News & Op-Ed Commentary from The People's Republic of Moscow (Idaho)

Health care spending hits peak

I mean, who would have ever thought that socialized medicine is more expensive? </sarcasm>

The health care costs for individuals who receive coverage through their employer has reached an all-time high.

Analysis released by the Health Care Cost Institute on Tuesday found the average health insurance spending through work was over $5,600 in 2017. That figure is a 4.2-percent increase from the previous year.

The organization credits the increase because of higher prices, and not because people are using more services. In fact, the overall use of services declined by 0.2-percent since 2013, while spending rose by nearly 17-percent.